WR: January 16 – January 22

In The Spotlight

This was the week all of ISM was waiting for; the week of Research Showcase. It would take place at the Ford Center at The Star. This would be the biggest thing we have ever done, and needless to say, I was somewhat stressed out from the preparation needed to make everything as amazing as possible. My original work needed to be refined, my board had a few preparations that had to be added, and I wanted to calm down my nerves.

Well, let me just say that I think that my board and original work were above average in terms of quality. I had spent quite a bit of time on them, and I had enhanced them to the best of my ability. For my board, I had spent the majority of winter break spray painting and perfecting the borders and background. I had made sure to cut out paper borders for everything going on my overall board. To make sure everything was perfect, I had measured out the exact amount of inches everything had to be. I printed out my mentor’s biography, topic proposal, pictures of original work, quote, and mission statement. For my original work, I created a case study on the greenstick fracture I had gotten as a ten-year-old. I made sure to everything as much as I could and add real x-ray pictures to detail everything. I honestly want to improve it; however, I do not know of any way that I could. I wanted to add more information while adding the least amount of padding, but I didn’t know how to add more info to my study.

As for Research Showcase, all I can say is that it went very well. I had so much fun talking to both people I had never seen before as well as people who I have interacted with. If you managed to make it to research showcase, I’d like to take this moment to thank you for your time. Now, back to the weekly report. I managed to change and get ready during the fourth period of school and got to the stadium around 4:00 p.m. The staff let us in around 4:15 and I’m proud to say that the majority of Liberty ISM was there first. After they let us in, we found our way to the bottom of the field and I found a table to present on. I finished decorating my board there and took pictures with my peers and friends. Another thing I’m proud of was that our school was the first to have everything set up and ready. Around 6:20 p.m. people began walking in.

The whole event was really fun. There was so much positive energy going around our school that it was easy to make connections with so many strangers. I was able to connect with family friends as well as teachers and loved showing them exactly what I had been up to. Exactly what I had been pouring my passion into this past school year. Furthermore, random people were interested in not only my field but also in me. They were interested to see that I had a personal connection with orthopedic surgery and that my original work, my case study, was over myself. From my point of view, they were pleased to see that I really enjoyed talking to others and enjoyed everything my mentor had done for me. I remember that one lady had told me that she had never seen someone speak with so much passion about another person – my mentor – and that I really was able to get through to her. Honestly, I loved this event down to its very core, and if I could do it all over again, I gladly would.

Well with all that said and done, there isn’t much else to say. Research Showcase was one of the highlights of this year, and I’d like to thank everyone who made it possible, from the staff to the people visiting. Hopefully, I will remember this day as the day that I was able to stand in the spotlight and show everyone who I was and what I stood for.